A cantor, a community center administrator, a camp director, and a nonprofit fund-raiser -- graduates of IC now working in "Jewish careers" -- came back to campus this spring to share their stories with current students.

"The Jewish communal field is a real profession -- a career. There really are jobs," says Hope Horowitz '77. A phone conversation between Horowitz and Jewish studies coordinator and anthropology professor Barbara Johnson inspired the creation of the first Jewish Studies Career Night at IC. "When I was in college, I didn't even know the field [of Jewish communal service] existed," says Horowitz, who is assistant director of the Jewish Community Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Her fellow alumni participants arrived at their current career points via different methods, but they are all deeply committed to their service work. Amy Goldberg Holtz '86 is director at the JCC day camp for children in Allentown. Deborah Benardot '75 , M.M. '79, is cantor of the oldest synagogue in Atlanta and has recorded three professional CDs of Jewish liturgical music. Jill Goldsmith '96 is director of development for the Capital Camps and Retreat Center in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, as well as a fellow of the Wexner Heritage Foundation, a two-year program in Jewish community leadership. "When I was a student at IC, I had no idea what I wanted my career to be," she points out. "I basically looked to things I cared about, things that made me feel good, and areas that I thought might build a network. Next thing I knew I was in the world of Jewish communal service!"